BAMPFAs current commission for the Art Wall showcases the work of Lawrence Weiner, a central figure of Conceptual art. Like many other artists working in the late 1960s and 70s, Weiner is deeply interested in methods of display that challenge the assumption that the work of art exists as a discrete object in the physical world.

Weiner decisively turned to language as the material object for his art in 1968, after an installation he made in a Vermont field was damaged during the course of the exhibition. The event led him to the conclusion that the description of the work, or its rendering in linguistic form, was sufficient. Since the 1970s, wall installations inscribed with specific statements written by the artist have been a primary medium for Weiner. Here, Weiner responds to the specific location of the architectural site, determining the compositional arrangement of the lettering that centrally hovers on the expansive white wall above the wooden steps.

The Art Wall is commissioned by BAMPFA and made possible by major funding from Frances Hellman and Warren Breslau. Organized by Apsara DiQuinzio, curator of modern and contemporary art and Phyllis C. Wattis MATRIX curator.